Explore the integration of media technologies within your app. Discuss working with audio, video, camera, and other media functionalities.

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How can third-party iOS apps obtain real-time waveform / spectrogram data for Apple Music tracks (similar to djay & other DJ apps)?
Hi everyone, I’m working on an iOS MusicKit app that overlays a metronome on top of Apple Music playback. To line the clicks up perfectly I’d like access to low-level audio analysis data—ideally a waveform / spectrogram or beat grid—while the track is playing. I’ve noticed that several approved DJ apps (e.g. djay, Serato, rekordbox) can already: • Display detailed scrolling waveforms of Apple Music songs • Scratch, loop or time-stretch those tracks in real time That implies they receive decoded PCM frames or at least high-resolution analysis data from Apple Music under a special entitlement. My questions: 1. Does MusicKit (or any public framework) expose real-time audio buffers, FFT bins, or beat markers for streaming Apple Music content? 2. If not, is there an Apple program or entitlement that developers can apply for—similar to the “DJ with Apple Music” initiative—to gain that deeper access? 3. Where can I find official documentation or a point of contact for this kind of request? I’ve searched the docs and forums but only see standard MusicKit playback APIs, which don’t appear to expose raw audio for DRM-protected songs. Any guidance, links or insider tips on the proper application process would be hugely appreciated! Thanks in advance.
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161
Oct ’25
CoreMediaError with Lightning HDMI output on FairPlay content
Hello, our application is unable to HDMI output FairPlay protected content to TV via official Lightning HDMI AV Adapter, by checking the console log on mediaplayerd it is found that a CoreMediaErrorDomain Code=-19156 is raised, but we are unable to know what this error code means. default 11:18:15.121584+0800 mediaplaybackd keyboss ckb_customURLReadCallback: 0x7fa62f800 60/0 customURLReqID 4 isComplete 1 err -19156 error <private> (0) dokeyCallbacksExist 0 default 11:18:15.121670+0800 mediaplaybackd keyboss ckb_processErrorForRequest: 0x7fa62f800 60/0 handler 4 err 0 default 11:18:15.121752+0800 mediaplaybackd <<<< FigCustomURLHandling >>>> curll_cancelRequestOnQueue: 0x7fa031360: requestID: 4 default 11:18:15.121932+0800 mediaplaybackd keyboss ckb_transitionRequestToTerminalState: 0x7fa62f800 60/0 reqFin err Error Domain=CoreMediaErrorDomain Code=-19156 (-19156) dokeyCallbacksExist 0 default 11:18:15.122025+0800 mediaplaybackd keyboss ckb_transitionRequestToTerminalState: 0x7fa62f800 60/0 retry default 11:18:15.123195+0800 mediaplaybackd <<<< FigCPECryptorPKD >>>> PostKeyRequestErrorOccurred: 0x7fab7be80 029592C2-093D-400D-B57F-7AB06CC292D1 key request error: Error Domain=CoreMediaErrorDomain Code=-19160 (-19160)
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135
Jul ’25
WKWebView Crashes on iOS During YouTube Playlist Playback
I’m encountering a consistent crash in WebKit when using WKWebView to play a YouTube playlist in my iOS app. Playback starts successfully, but the web process terminates during the second video in the playlist. This only occurs on physical devices, not in the simulator. Here’s a simplified Swift example of my setup: import SwiftUI import WebKit struct ContentView: View { private let playlistID = "PLig2mjpwQBZnghraUKGhCqc9eAy0UbpDN" var body: some View { YouTubeWebView(playlistID: playlistID) .edgesIgnoringSafeArea(.all) } } struct YouTubeWebView: UIViewRepresentable { let playlistID: String func makeUIView(context: Context) -> WKWebView { let config = WKWebViewConfiguration() config.allowsInlineMediaPlayback = true let webView = WKWebView(frame: .zero, configuration: config) webView.scrollView.isScrollEnabled = true let html = """ <!doctype html> <html> <head> <meta name="viewport" content="initial-scale=1.0, maximum-scale=1.0"> <style>body,html{height:100%;margin:0;background:#000}iframe{width:100%;height:100%;border:0}</style> </head> <body> <iframe src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/videoseries?list=\(playlistID)&controls=1&rel=0&playsinline=1&iv_load_policy=3" frameborder="0" allow="encrypted-media; picture-in-picture; fullscreen" webkit-playsinline allowfullscreen ></iframe> </body> </html> """ webView.loadHTMLString(html, baseURL: nil) return webView } func updateUIView(_ uiView: WKWebView, context: Context) {} } #Preview { ContentView() } Observed behavior: First video plays without issue. Web process crashes when the second video in the playlist starts. Console logs show WebProcessProxy::didClose and repeated memory status messages. Using ProcessAssertion or background activity does not prevent the crash. Only occurs on physical devices; simulators do not reproduce the issue. Questions: Is there something I should change or add in my WKWebView setup or HTML/iframe to prevent the crash when playing the second video in a playlist on physical iOS devices? Is there an officially supported way to limit memory or prevent WebKit from terminating the web process during multi-video playback? Are there recommended patterns for playing YouTube playlists in a WKWebView on iOS without risking crashes? Any tips for debugging or configuring WKWebView to make it more stable for continuous playlist playback? Thanks in advance for any guidance!
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372
Oct ’25
TV A1625 Using 3× More CPU After tvOS 26 Update
Hi everyone, After updating my Apple TV HD (model A1625) to tvOS 26, I’ve noticed a significant spike in CPU usage—up to 3× higher than before the update. Go from around 40% to 120% Model: Apple TV HD (A1625) tvOS Version: 26 (stable release) and beta version of 26.1, App downgrade stream due to lack of cpu power If anyone else is experiencing this, please share your findings or workarounds. Would love to hear from Apple engineers or other developers if this is a known regression or if there’s a recommended fix. Thanks!
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Oct ’25
AVPlayer unpredictable range requests on iOS when streaming *.mov file
Hi all, I'm trying to diagnose and resolve an issue with stuttering video playback using the standard AVPlayer. The video in question is a 4K, 39-second file in *.mov format, being played on an iOS device. It's served via a local HTTP server that proxies requests to a backend to fetch and process the content. The project uses end-to-end encrypted storage, which necessitates the proxy for handling data processing. While playback in offline scenarios is smooth, we are encountering issues with smooth playback during streaming. The same video streams smoothly on other platforms using the same connection, so network limitations are not a factor. On iOS, playback is consistently choppy, with pauses every 1-3 seconds. The video does not appear to buffer adequately for smooth playback. One particularly curious aspect is the seemingly random pattern of Content-Range requests made by the AVPlayer when streaming the video. Below is an example of the range requests:
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484
Apr ’25
How to use the SpeechDetector Module
I am trying to use SpeechDetector Module in Speech framework along with SpeechTranscriber. and it is giving me an error Cannot convert value of type 'SpeechDetector' to expected element type 'Array.ArrayLiteralElement' (aka 'any SpeechModule') Below is how I am using it let speechDetector = Speech.SpeechDetector() let transcriber = SpeechTranscriber(locale: Locale.current, transcriptionOptions: [], reportingOptions: [.volatileResults], attributeOptions: [.audioTimeRange]) speechAnalyzer = try SpeechAnalyzer(modules: [transcriber,speechDetector])
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392
Aug ’25
CheckError.swift:CheckError(_:):211:kAudioUnitErr_InvalidParameter (CheckError.swift:CheckError(_:):211)
I'm getting this error when I launch my application on the iPhone 14 Pro via Xcode. Everything builds OK. I"m using the audio kit plugin and Sound Pipe Audiokit. The error starts as soon as I start the app and will carry on repeatedly. I have background processing turned on as I'd like the sounds to play when the phone is locked via the headphones. I can't find anything online about this error. None of my catches are printing anything in the logs either. So I don't know if this is just something that pops up repeatedly or whether there is something fundamentally wrong. private func setupAudioSession() { do { let session = AVAudioSession.sharedInstance() try session.setCategory(.playback, mode: .default, options: [.mixWithOthers]) try session.setActive(true, options: .notifyOthersOnDeactivation) } catch { errorMessage = "Failed to set up audio session: (error.localizedDescription)" print(errorMessage ?? "") } } // MARK: - Background Task Handling private func setupBackgroundTaskHandling() { // Handle app entering background notificationObservers.append( NotificationCenter.default.addObserver( forName: UIApplication.didEnterBackgroundNotification, object: nil, queue: .main, using: { [weak self] _ in // Safely unwrap self guard let self = self else { return } self.handleBackgroundTransition() } ) ) I'm not sure if this is the code causing the issue. Any help would be gratefully appreciated. This is my first app I'm working on .
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152
Apr ’25
iTunes Search API no longer returning explicit results?
My app has been using the iTunes Search API (itunes.apple.com/search) for a few years now, but at some point over the last week or so (late Sept. 2025) it is no longer returning track results with explicit content, regardless of whether I provide "explicit=Yes" (which is the default anyway, according to the API documentation - https://performance-partners.apple.com/search-api). Has anyone else experienced this with this API and have you figured out a workaround? FYI, I do also use the more robust Apple Music API in another part of my app, which isn't going through this issue, so I know it's technically an alternative. I just need to stick with iTunes Search API in this particular case. Thanks.
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235
Oct ’25
Creating an initial Now Playing state of paused - impossible?
I am working on an app which plays audio - https://youtu.be/VbAfUk_eYl0?si=nJg5ayy2faWE78-g - and one of the features is, on restart, if you had paused playback of a file at the time the app was previously shut down (or were playing one at the time of shutdown), the paused state and position in the file is restored exactly as it was, on restart. The functionality works. However, it seems impossible to get the "now playing" information in iOS into the right state to reflect that via the MediaPlayer API. On restart, handlers are attached to the play/pause/togglePlayPause actions on MPRemoteCommandCenter.shared(), and the map of media info is updated on MPNowPlayingInfoCenter.default().nowPlayingInfo. What happens is that iOS's media view shows the audio as playing and offers a pause button - even though the play action is enabled and the pause action is disabled. Once playback has been initiated (my workaround is to have the pause action toggle the play state, since otherwise you wouldn't be able to initiate playback from controls in a car without initiating it once from a device first). I've created a simplified white-noise-player demo to illustrate the problem - simply build and deploy it, and then start the app, lock your device and look at the playback controls on the lock screen. It will show a pause button - same behavior I've described. https://github.com/timboudreau/ios-play-pause-demo I've tried a few things to narrow down the source of the issue - for example, thinking that not MPNowPlayingInfoPropertyPlaybackProgress and MPMediaItemPropertyPlaybackDuration might be the culprit (since the system interpolates elapsed time and it's recommended to update those properties infrequently) on startup might do the trick, but the result is the same, just without a duration or progress shown. What governs this behavior, and is there some way to explicitly tell the media player API your current state is paused?
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116
Apr ’25
Multiview HLS with HDR
I have an HDR10+ encoded video that if loaded as a mov plays back on the Apple Vision Pro but when that video is encoded using the latest (1.23b) Apple HLS tools to generate an fMP4 - the resulting m3u8 cannot be played back in the Apple Vision Pro and I only get back a "Cannot Open" error. To generate the m3u8, I'm just calling mediafilesegmenter (with -iso-fragmented) and then variantplaylistcreator. This completes with no errors but the m3u8 will playback on the Mac using VLC but not on the Apple Vision Pro. The relevant part of the m3u8 is: #EXT-X-STREAM-INF:AVERAGE-BANDWIDTH=40022507,BANDWIDTH=48883974,VIDEO-RANGE=PQ,CODECS="ec-3,hvc1.1.60000000.L180.B0",RESOLUTION=4096x4096,FRAME-RATE=24.000,CLOSED-CAPTIONS=NONE,AUDIO="audio1",REQ-VIDEO-LAYOUT="CH-STEREO" {{url}} Has anyone been able to use the HLS tools to generate fMP4s of MV-HEVC videos with HDR10?
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1.1k
Feb ’25
Audio clipping - macOS Tahoe 26 - Beta 5
I was testing audio playback from YouTube in Safari, and the sound was clipping heavily. At first, I thought it might be due to the poor quality of my small sound system. However, when I took a screenshot and the screenshot sound effect itself produced a loud clipping noise, it became clear that this is not a mechanical problem with my speakers, nor an issue specific to YouTube or Safari. This appears to be a system-wide audio issue in macOS Tahoe 26 - Beta 5.
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290
Aug ’25
MusicKit: Multichannel Dolby Atmos Limited to Stereo Output - Is This Intended Behavior?
I'm experiencing a significant limitation with MusicKit's Dolby Atmos implementation on macOS and would appreciate clarification on whether this is intended behavior or if there are solutions available. When streaming Dolby Atmos content through MusicKit's ApplicationMusicPlayer, the output is limited to 2-channel stereo, even when: Audio MIDI Setup is configured for 7.1.4 (12-channel) output The same tracks play in full multichannel through the native Apple Music app Dolby Atmos is set to "Automatic" in Apple Music preferences Please let me know if there is anyway to enable this. If not, is this documented anywhere? Thanks!
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265
Aug ’25
iOS 16 MusicKit - Artwork has no background or text colors
Hello, I'm new to the Swift MusicKit API and am starting with the implementation in iOS 16. I'm getting stuck on an issue where there is no background or text color associated with the Artwork object. Is this something you have to make an additional property request for, and if so, how do you do that? var catalogSearch = MusicCatalogResourceRequest<Album>(matching: \.id, equalTo: item.id) let catalogResponse = try await request.response() guard let firstItem = catalogResponse.items.first else { return } In this example, firstItem.artwork only contains the url and what look like incorrect max width/height values. here's a printout of firstItem.artwork Optional(Artwork(   urlFormat: "musicKit://artwork/library/5F37858D-F46B-4F12-BA67-40FA8DD63D87/{w}x{h}?at=item&fat=&id=7718670444435992305&lid=5F37858D-F46B-4F12-BA67-40FA8DD63D87&mt=music&aat=Music122/v4/37/25/f5/3725f515-249f-7b91-77bb-f479cd48201c/22UMGIM32254.rgb.jpg", maximumWidth: 0, maximumHeight: 0 ))
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911
Mar ’25
AVContentKeySession key renewal on Airplay
Our streaming app uses FairPlay-protected video streams, which previously worked fine when using AVAssetResourceLoaderDelegate to provide CKCs. Recently, we migrated to AVContentKeySession, and while everything works as expected during regular playback, we encountered an issue with AirPlay. Our CKC has a 120-second expiry, so we renew it by calling renewExpiringResponseData.. This trigger the didProvideRenewingContentKeyRequest delegate and we respond with updated CKC. However, when streaming via AirPlay, both video and audio freeze exactly after 120 seconds. To validate the issue, I tested with AVAssetResourceLoaderDelegate and found that I can reproduce the same freeze if I do not renew the key. This suggests that AirPlay is not accepting the renewed CKC when using AVContentKeySession. Additional Details: This issue occurs across different iOS versions and various AirPlay devices. The same content plays without issues when played directly on the device. The renewal process is successful, and segments continue to load, but playback remains frozen. Tried renewing the CKC bit early (100s). I also tried setting player.usesExternalPlaybackWhileExternalScreenIsActive = true, but the issue persists. We don't use persistentKey. Is there anything else that needs to be considered for proper key renewal when AirPlaying? Any help on how to fix this or confirmation if this is a known issue would be greatly appreciated.
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Mar ’25
How can third-party iOS apps obtain real-time waveform / spectrogram data for Apple Music tracks (similar to djay & other DJ apps)?
Hi everyone, I’m working on an iOS MusicKit app that overlays a metronome on top of Apple Music playback. To line the clicks up perfectly I’d like access to low-level audio analysis data—ideally a waveform / spectrogram or beat grid—while the track is playing. I’ve noticed that several approved DJ apps (e.g. djay, Serato, rekordbox) can already: • Display detailed scrolling waveforms of Apple Music songs • Scratch, loop or time-stretch those tracks in real time That implies they receive decoded PCM frames or at least high-resolution analysis data from Apple Music under a special entitlement. My questions: 1. Does MusicKit (or any public framework) expose real-time audio buffers, FFT bins, or beat markers for streaming Apple Music content? 2. If not, is there an Apple program or entitlement that developers can apply for—similar to the “DJ with Apple Music” initiative—to gain that deeper access? 3. Where can I find official documentation or a point of contact for this kind of request? I’ve searched the docs and forums but only see standard MusicKit playback APIs, which don’t appear to expose raw audio for DRM-protected songs. Any guidance, links or insider tips on the proper application process would be hugely appreciated! Thanks in advance.
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343
Oct ’25
New playback error on iOS/tvOS 18.x "CoreMediaErrorDomain Code=-15486"
Hello, Our users have started to see a new fatal AVPlayer error during playback starting with iOS/tvOS 18.0. The error is defined as "CoreMediaErrorDomain Code=-15486". We have not been able to reproduce this issue locally within our development team. Is there any documentation on the cause of this error or steps to recover from this error? Thank you, Howard
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673
Feb ’25